Arkansas' August tax holiday: art supplies, a buy-one-get-one rule and the grocery tax change
Arkansas runs its sales tax holiday on the first weekend of August, and the Department of Finance and Administration's 2026 instructions for retailers show how wide the list is: clothing and footwear under 100 dollars an item, accessories under 50, school supplies, school art supplies and school instructional materials. The list reaches paints, clay, sketch pads and textbooks, and the Department's retailer instructions also answer a question that matters to a promotion: they say how a buy-one-get-one offer is taxed. The two prices cannot be averaged, so the tax depends on what was actually paid for each item. For a Shopify store that wants to attach a free item to a purchase during the weekend, that is the rule to design around. Arkansas also exempted food and food ingredients from its state sales tax from Jan. 1, 2026, with the Amendment 75 excise tax and city and county taxes still applying, which does not change the holiday but does change what a shopper sees at the register for food. This page works through those rules from the Department's own documents and the Act, and ends with a buy-shoes-get-socks plan that prices each item on its own. This is not tax advice; confirm with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.
Back-to-school sales tax holiday
The holiday starts at 12:01 a.m. on the first Saturday in August and ends at 11:59 p.m. the next Sunday, which computes to Saturday, August 7 through Sunday, August 8, 2027, though the Department has not posted 2027 instructions. It exempts clothing and footwear under 100 dollars per item, clothing accessories and equipment under 50 dollars per item, and the school supplies, school art supplies and school instructional materials on the Department's list. State and local sales tax are not collected on those items, and retailers are required to take part.
- Clothing and footwear, under 100 dollars per item
- Clothing accessories and equipment, under 50 dollars per item
- School supplies on the Department's list
- School art supplies: clay, paints, brushes, sketch pads
- School instructional materials: textbooks, workbooks, reference books
Watch out: An item that is not on the Department's product list stays taxable, and a manufacturer coupon does not lower the price for the cap test. The Department's retailer instructions also tell sellers not to average a buy-one-get-one pair, and they give no worked example for a second item that is fully free, so price each item on its own and ask the Department before you advertise a free-item deal as tax free. This is not tax advice; confirm with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.
A buy-shoes-get-socks plan priced item by item
- In the spring, before the holiday
Sort the catalog against the Department's list. Shoes, jackets, shirts and belts are tested at under 100 dollars each, wallets, watches and jewelry at under 50, and a pencil box or a set of watercolors only if it appears on the product list by name.
- When you design the free-item offer
Pair a pair of school shoes priced under 100 dollars with a pair of socks as the free item, and do not bundle them into one set with a single price. The Department tells sellers not to average the prices in a buy-one-get-one deal and gives no example for a fully free second item, so keep each item a separate line with its own price.
- Before you add a mixed set
If you want a set that mixes a covered item with one that is not on the list, such as socks with a candle, check the rule first: when the non-eligible item is worth more than the eligible one, the whole set price is taxed. Keep sets to items that are all on the list.
- When you set the shipping charge
Keep the parcel to clothing under the cap so the delivery charge is not allocated to individual items, or allocate it by price or weight when taxable items ship with exempt ones. Take the order in the window for immediate shipment so a late delivery date does not matter.
- Saturday, August 7 and Sunday, August 8, 2027 (computed)
Run the offer for those two days once the Department confirms the 2027 dates, and use a store coupon rather than a manufacturer coupon if you need to bring a price under 100 dollars. Confirm the dates and the product list on the Department's holiday page the week before.
- Each January
Check how the state grocery exemption shows up if you sell food: the Act exempts food and food ingredients from state sales and use tax from Jan. 1, 2026 but leaves the Amendment 75 taxes and city and county taxes in place, and it does not cover prepared food.
Source: Arkansas General Assembly: Act 1008 of 2025 (House Bill 1685), Grocery Tax Relief Act
Build it with the Buy X, get Y template.
Questions merchants ask
- When is the Arkansas sales tax holiday in 2027?
- The Department's rule is the first Saturday in August from 12:01 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. the following Sunday, which computes to Saturday, August 7 and Sunday, August 8, 2027. The Department has posted instructions only for 2026, so confirm the 2027 dates on its holiday page before you schedule anything.
- How is a buy-one-get-one free offer taxed during the holiday?
- The Department says the total price of a buy-one-get-one offer cannot be averaged to qualify both items, and that the tax depends on the actual price paid for each item. Its example uses a second pair at half price. It gives no example for an item that is fully free, so ask the Department about that case before you advertise it.
- Are art supplies and textbooks covered?
- Yes, if they are on the Department's product list. School art supplies are clay and glazes, acrylic, tempera and oil paints, paintbrushes for artwork, sketch and drawing pads and watercolors, and instructional materials are reference books, maps and globes, textbooks and workbooks. Items not on the list stay taxable.
- Is there still a state tax on groceries in Arkansas?
- Act 1008 of 2025 exempts food and food ingredients from state sales and use tax from Jan. 1, 2026, but the Act leaves the Amendment 75 taxes and city and county taxes in place and does not exempt prepared food. The rule is separate from the holiday.
- Do I have to collect Arkansas tax on sales from another state?
- The Department says a remote seller must collect once its sales into Arkansas exceed 100,000 dollars or 200 taxable transactions in the current or previous year. This is not tax advice; confirm with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.
Related reading
Dates to plan around
- Back-to-school tax holiday (first Saturday and Sunday of August; computed, the Department has not posted 2027 instructions)Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration: Sales Tax Holiday Questions for Consumers (4-1-2022)
Shipping into the state
Arkansas has 52,035 square miles of land and 3,114,791 residents, and for an online store the shipping question is a tax question: delivery charges count toward the holiday price, but the Department says that when every item in a shipment is eligible and under its cap the charge is not spread across the items, so a clothing-only parcel is tested item by item. Mixed parcels need the charge allocated by price or by weight between the taxable and exempt items.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau: State Area Measurements (2010)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau: Vintage 2025 state population estimates
Facts and sources
The Department's retailer instructions say Act 757 of 2011 provides for a sales tax holiday during the first weekend of August each year, and that the 2026 holiday began Saturday, August 1 at 12:01 AM and continued through Sunday, August 2 at 11:59 PM, a 48-hour period in which state and local sales tax is not collected on the covered items.
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration: Sales Tax Holiday, August 1 and 2, 2026, Instructions for Retailers (accessed October 10, 2026)
The consumer FAQ says the holiday begins annually at 12:01am on the first Saturday in August and concludes at 11:59pm the following Sunday, and the first Saturday of August 2027 is August 7, so the 2027 holiday would run Saturday, August 7 through Sunday, August 8, a window we computed because the Department has posted no 2027 instructions yet.
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration: Sales Tax Holiday Questions for Consumers (4-1-2022) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The 2026 instructions exempt clothing and footwear when the sales price is less than 100 dollars per item, clothing accessories and equipment when it is less than 50 dollars per item, and school supplies, school art supplies and school instructional materials, and they say an item that is not on the Department's product list stays taxable.
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration: Sales Tax Holiday, August 1 and 2, 2026, Instructions for Retailers (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Department's list of school art supplies is clay and glazes, acrylic, tempera and oil paints, paintbrushes for artwork, sketch and drawing pads, and watercolors, and its list of school instructional materials is reference books, reference maps and globes, textbooks and workbooks.
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration: Sales Tax Holiday, August 1 and 2, 2026, Instructions for Retailers (accessed October 10, 2026)
The instructions' product list defines an electronic device as an item commonly used by a student in a course of study and lists calculators, cell phones, computers, tablets, e-readers and printers, although the opening paragraph names only five categories; the 2022 consumer FAQ includes electronic devices among the exempt items, so a store selling them should confirm the 2027 treatment with the Department.
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration: Sales Tax Holiday, August 1 and 2, 2026, Instructions for Retailers (accessed October 10, 2026)
Under the heading Buy One, Get One Free or for a Reduced Price, the instructions say the total price of such items cannot be averaged to qualify both for the holiday and that the tax due depends on the actual price paid for each item; their example is a 120 dollar first pair of jeans and a 60 dollar half-price second pair, where tax is due on the first pair and the second qualifies, and the Department gives no separate example for a second item that is entirely free.
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration: Sales Tax Holiday, August 1 and 2, 2026, Instructions for Retailers (accessed October 10, 2026)
The instructions say items normally sold as a single unit, such as a pair of shoes or a man's suit, must stay a single unit and cannot be split to meet a threshold, and that when eligible and non-eligible items are sold together as a set the full price is subject to sales tax if the value of the non-eligible item exceeds the value of the eligible item.
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration: Sales Tax Holiday, August 1 and 2, 2026, Instructions for Retailers (accessed October 10, 2026)
Retailers may use store discounts and store coupons to bring an eligible item's selling price under the cap, but a manufacturer's discount coupon or rebate does not reduce the selling price for the holiday test, according to the instructions.
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration: Sales Tax Holiday, August 1 and 2, 2026, Instructions for Retailers (accessed October 10, 2026)
The instructions treat shipping, handling and service charges as part of the sales price but say that when every item in a shipment is eligible and each is under its threshold the charge is not allocated to individual items, and an order qualifies if it is delivered and paid for in the window or if the customer orders and pays and the seller accepts the order in the window for immediate shipment, even if delivery comes later.
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration: Sales Tax Holiday, August 1 and 2, 2026, Instructions for Retailers (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Department's sales and use tax page lists the state sales tax rate as 6.500 percent and says the state use tax rate, effective July 1, 2013, is the same.
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration: Sales and Use Tax (accessed October 10, 2026)
Act 1008 of 2025, the Grocery Tax Relief Act, exempts food and food ingredients, but not prepared food, from state sales and use taxes, says the receipts continue to be subject to the excise and compensating use taxes levied under Arkansas Constitution Amendment 75 and to municipal and county gross receipts and use taxes, and takes effect on and after January 1, 2026.
Arkansas General Assembly: Act 1008 of 2025 (House Bill 1685), Grocery Tax Relief Act (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Department says all remote sellers and marketplace facilitators must collect and remit Arkansas sales and use tax if, within the current or previous year, sales of tangible personal property, taxable services, a digital code or specified digital products for delivery into Arkansas exceeded 100,000 dollars or 200 taxable transactions, under Act 822 of 2019 starting July 1, 2019.
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration: Remote Sellers (accessed October 10, 2026)
The National Park Service says Buffalo National River in Arkansas was established in 1972 and flows freely for 135 miles, one of the few remaining undammed rivers in the lower 48 states.
National Park Service: Buffalo National River (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimate puts Arkansas at 3,114,791 residents on July 1, 2025, up from 3,096,080 a year earlier.
U.S. Census Bureau: Vintage 2025 state population estimates (accessed October 10, 2026)
Arkansas has 52,035 square miles of land area.
U.S. Census Bureau: State Area Measurements (2010) (accessed October 10, 2026)
Cities in Arkansas
- BentonvilleWalmart's Home Office has been in Bentonville since 1971 and Crystal Bridges opened in 2011. Local facts, tax rows and an upsell plan.
Not tax advice. Confirm current rules with the state revenue department before you rely on a date or an exemption.